Wrestling and a Few Beers Dynamite Review 5/24/23

Written By All Elite Gino (Gino Lewis)

Location MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas NV

Here we go! It's the go home show for Double or Nothing on Sunday. AEW hasn’t always had great shows going into a PPV. I hope tonight is different. There are reasons to think it will. It’s a solid card. I’m looking forward to Lucha Brothers vs Claudio/Yuta and Orange Cassidy vs Kyle Fletcher. Roderick Strong against Daniel Garcia was added to the card today. That should be brilliant! However, this show is all about building the hype for DON. I’ll be enjoying a few Heinekens while watching the show tonight. Dynamite and a few beers. Sounds good to me. Let’s get to the action!

(C) Orange Cassidy def Kyle Fletcher – As of today Kyle Fletcher is All Elite. It’s a good signing. He dropped the New Japan and New Japan Strong tag team titles on Sunday at Resurgence. It was a great show that I watched. I might post a review tomorrow or Friday. He said it was because his partner Mark Davis was injured. It seems like it’s more likely because they signed with AEW. Fletcher attacked Cassidy 2 weeks ago to set up this match up. Fletcher destroyed Orange with a kick to the face then hit a nasty Brainbuster to start the match with the advantage. Cassidy missed a DDT on the apron. They decided to replay it for some reason. AEW doesn’t show many replays and that wasn’t a good move. It’s been a good match despite the botch. There is dueling “freshly squeezed”, “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” chants. Fletcher has the advantage headed into the first commercial break.

Cassidy spiked Fletcher with a spinning DDT after the break. Fletcher is bumping his ass off for Cassidy. There have been multiple chants for Fletcher. That led to the crowd getting louder in support of Freshly Squeezed. Fletcher hit a pair of Tombstones and got a near fall. Excellent action leading to that including Orange doing his antics with the weak punches. The crowd is chanting “this is awesome” Fletcher hit a sit-down Michinoku Driver from the top rope for another 2-count. WOW! Fletcher went for another tombstone. Orange countered with a roll up from his shoulders and sat down on top for the pin. Not my favorite finish to an otherwise outstanding match. This was the typical action-packed opener for Dynamite. The crowd was into the match. It doesn’t seem like it’s a loud of a crowd so far. Grade 3 ¾ *

Renee Paquette is backstage with Ricky Starks. Ricky says he’s tired of getting beat up by Bullet Club Gold so he’s entering the Blackjack Battle Royale. He gets beat up by Jay White and Juice Robinson again with Jay saying he’s not done with Bullet Club Gold. It’s disappointing that Starks is in the Battle Royale. Same thing with Jay White. I think they might still be early in their feud but it’s not a good spot of either of them. Especially Ricky who beat Chris Jericho at Full Gear and is absolutely beloved by the AEW fans. I know he’s not a Pillar. He belongs in the Pillars 4 way main event more than the Battle Royale. The buildup to the match would have been better with Starks in Guevara’s spot. They could have made it happen. After the second break Jungle Boy has a vignette talking about his experiences driving to wrestling shows in Las Vegas. It was short and to the point.

They showed a replay of Karen Jarrett debuting in AEW last week assisting in the beatdown of FTR as we get ready for FTR’s in ring mic time. I started a little before the show so I’m starting my second beer now. Seems fitting with FTR in the ring. Dax says the tag division in AEW will never be led by a couple of TNA rejects. That was a great line. He then says Jarrett needs to reach out to the Queen of the Mountain for a job. Not his “bitch wife” but Dixie Carter. Wow burn. 2 great lines in a row from Dax. Mark Briscoe comes out to the ring and asks Dax while he piledrove him. Dax tries to shake his hand but Briscoe slaps it away then slaps Harwood in the face. More animosity between FTR and Briscoe. Mark leaves the ring bumps into Karen Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, slaps Jeff Jarrett in the face before telling Jay Lethal he’s “tired of this bullshit”. The story here really has been good. I don’t think Jarrett and Lethal have much of a chance to win. That said, It will be interesting to see how Mark Briscoe affects the match. Paquette is backstage with Sammy Guevara. Renee tells Sammy MJF’s offer still stands for him to lay down for MJF at DON. Guevara says “Hell NO”. Sammy tells MJF to shove the offer up his ass. He says he’s going to be the next champion and gets a mild pop. He was in babyface mode again.

Trios Championship: House of Black def AR Fox, Blake Christin and Metalik – The stipulation tonight is one man in, one man out. It sounds like it’s just no tags which makes sense since they don’t usually follow tag rules anyway. The lighting is cool. There is a psychedelic or spacelike backdrop in addition to the lights being out in the crowd. The stipulation is actually pretty cool. If one wrestler gets thrown out of the ring another wrestler can come in without a tag. It’s happened a few times early in the match so they are following the rule. Metalik and Christian hit impressive stereo dives to the outside. Fox hit what Excaliber called an implosion senton from the top rope to the outside and took out everyone in the match. It was a cool maneuver. The action has been high impact and fast paced as you’d expect in a match like this. House of Black had all 3 of their opponents in submissions as AR Fox tapped out to a Cloverleaf type submission from Matthews. He made it the ropes at one point but there aren’t rope breaks in House Rules matches. The announcers did a good job pointing that out. Dominant win for the Champions. Grade 3 *

Nothing was set up for House of Black after the match so it looks like they are off the PPV Sunday. That’s a bit of surprise especially with Acclaimed and Daddy Ass having a title shot from winning a battle royal a few weeks back. We go to a video package showing the reunion of the Elite. Blackpool Combat Club is backstage. Danielson says Wheeler and Claudio are taking the ROH tag championships tonight and BCC is taking out the Elite at Anarchy in the Arena. Moxley cuts a promo saying they do the job the way it’s meant to be done. No one does it better than them. Mox says this Sunday it’s going to count and BCC will deliver. This was an effective promo and think we’ll see more later in the show. The feud has had a tremendous build.

MJF is out for an in-ring segment after commercial. He takes a drink of Tony Schiavone’s water then throws it in his face. Honestly Schiavone earned that for calling MJF a little prick 2 weeks ago. It probably should have been worse from such a dastardly heel. MJF says they are going to have to start calling this town “Virgin Vegas” instead of “Sin City”. He had a good line about Jungle Boy being put in an echo chamber and boring himself to death. MJF is hyping up the crowd like a baby face saying the 4 pillars are AEW. He says he’s sick of this place and the fans drawing loud boos. This definitely isn’t that loud of a crowd though. MJF says the other Pillars aren’t on the “level of the devil”. Clever. That brings Darby Allin out. The crowd is chanting for Darby. Allin talked about cleaning toilets at the 99 Cent store. Then living in his car trying to make it as a professional wrestler.

MJF made a joke about Darby being on stilts. He is wearing Doc Martins with giant soles and is probably 3 inches taller than normal. Darby says he’s taking MJF’s championship Sunday and he might do it with a Headlock takeover. MJF kicks him in the nuts. Sammy Guevara comes out to confront MJF. MFJ tries to run away. Jungle Boy comes out and cuts him off. Jack takes him out with a clothesline on the ramp. Jungle Boy holds the title up while his music hits. Looks like Jungle Boy will not be winning the title. This was very good. The crowd wasn’t going nuts or anything. They were as loud as they have been tonight for most of this segment. It might just be the sound in the building. It’s worth noting the crowd isn’t very loud for this show. I’m starting my third Heineken now. I should start feeling a buzz soon!

AEW has done a great job with the storyline of the Pillars 4-way match. I expect MJF to win. I do think the buildup to the match will help make the near falls more believable. I think the match will be 4 ½ stars or better. You can say I’m really looking forward to it. This segment helped that some. It could have been an excellent segment with a louder crowd. Wardlow has a video package hyping up his ladder match with Christian and showing his history in ladder matches. Arn says the match is in 4 days and makes a nod to the 4 Horsemen. Cool. This has been a good show. I wouldn’t say it’s building too much excitement for Double or Nothing. The crowd isn’t helping.

Taya Valkyrie def Lady Frost – Taya is facing Jade Cargill at DON. I’m not sure if that had been announced. It’s official now. I have liked the storyline. The crowd is really quiet to open the match. Taya gets a nice pop after a huge chop. I give the women credit, they are working the crowd and getting them back into it. I also give both women credit for their ring gear! Valkyrie hits a big clothesline on Frost. Jade and her posse come out as we go to break. Lady Frost has the advantage back from the break. The crowd is back into it which is good to see. Jade appears to be dressed like Marvel Comics villain Lizard. I wouldn’t say it’s a great look. It’s definitely unique. Taya hit a nasty looking stomp and then her finisher Road to Valhalla for the win after a short distraction from Cargill. They lost the crowd a bit again towards the end. It was a decent match. I am looking forward to Taya and Jade at the PPV. It has potential be Jade’s best match to date. I think she’ll retain but it’s more of a question than normal. This was fine although it didn’t really build the PPV match up much.

Grade 2 ½ *

Tony Kahn made the announcement most people expected that the first episode of AEW Saturday Collision will be held at the United Center in Chicago. The crowd popped for that as it most likely means they have secured CM Punk for the show. The crowd is aware of that. That is good news for AEW. It should be a huge show! After the break they showed a celebrity who is teaming up for a show with Bear Grylls. He was chanting A-E-W instead of A-E-Dub lol. Hangman Page is backstage with Alex Marquez. Hangman says he and Kenny Omega may have never been friends but they are family. He ran down what BCC has done to the Elite. Good promo from Page ahead of Anarchy in the Arena.

Adam Cole and Roderick Strong are out next. It’s time for the contract signing for the unsanctioned match. The announcers mentioned it’s still a match so it needs a contract. Schiavone was very excited to announce Adam Cole which is a change. He’s not liked Cole in the past. Most likely because he’s sweet on his girl. Cole got a huge pop even with the quiet crowd. Chris Jericho is out next with members of the Jericho Appreciation Society. The crowd is also signing Judas loudly so maybe they are picking up. Cole talks about how Jericho did what he did to Britt Baker because he thinks he’s invincible. We’ll see how invincible he is when he beats the crap out of him. The crowd is loudly chanting “Adam Cole” This is the loudest they’ve been all night. Cole cuts an intense promo ending with “sign the paper bitch”. That led to a “sign it bitch” chant. Funny. This is starting to feel like a go home show!

Jericho says he’s not a bitch. He’s not from Las Vegas. Jericho rolls the clip of Saraya beating Britt with a Kendo Stick to add fuel to the fire. Jericho is taunting Cole badly since there is a no contact rule in effect for the contract signing. This has been a great segment. The crowd is eating it up. Jericho says it’s 5 against 2 at the PPV since there are no rules. That leads Adam Cole to introduce Sabu who is going to be in his corner. Uhhh...Say what! WOW!! That’s is really cool. It does seem incredibly random and I don’t know of a link between Sabu and Cole. It’s certainly not something I expected. Cole tosses a chair to Sabu. He takes out Matt Menard with it. The crowd is hyped and chanting for Sabu. It is cool to see him. I almost went to a GCW show featuring Sabu vs Nick Gage during the pandemic. After all that, they did a really really short vignette from Jaime Hayter to “hype” her match against Toni Storm at DON. Terrible booking if that’s all there is to build the women’s title match tonight. Poorly done by AEW to handle their women’s champion that way.

Roderick Strong def Daniel Garcia – The combatants are already in ring from the last segment. The crowd has quieted back down a little. There are loud “WOOOOO” chants after some big chops from both men so they are still into the match as we go to commercial. Garcia has the advantage after the break. The crowd is chanting “you can’t dance” for Garcia. He does a little shimmy. A mildly funny spot. The action was solid for the match. Stong hit a big gutbuster and won with the End of Heartache back breaker for the win. I didn’t write much for this match because I was expecting it to pick. It really didn’t happen. It was a decent match but I was little disappointed in it. Grade 2 ¾*

They showed a short replay of Willow Nightingale beating Mercedes Martinez for the New Japan Strong Women’s Championship. I’m really happy for Willow. I’m sadder for Mercedes. I think she was supposed to win and has been treated like a giant star by New Japan. I was looking forward to seeing what was in store for Mercedes. I was hoping she was going to defend the title at Forbidden Door. I’m starting my fourth Heiney as we head to the main event. I am feeling a bit buzzed. Last week I wrote about my favorite beer Stella Artois. Heineken is similar. It used to be my go-to beer when I was looking for something a little more upscale than Bud Light. Heineken is a Dutch pale lager. It has 5% alcohol which is higher than light beer. It still drinks somewhat like a light beer to me. It would take quite a few to get me really messed up and give me a hangover.

Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship: Lucha Brother def Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta – Bryan Danielson is on commentary. The crowd is chanting “Zero Miedo” as Lucha Bros hit stereo dives to the outside. The crowd is hot at the start of the match. On commentary, Danielson says Kenny Omega and the Bucks aren’t the best we’ve seen them be. Storyline wise he’s not wrong. The action has been great headed into the final break. Claudio did the giant swing on Fenix into a dropkick from Yuta for a near fall. The crowd is chanting “Lucha”. They’ve been loud this match. It would have been a better show if they were this loud all night. Maybe they are pacing themselves knowing most of them will be at the PPV Sunday.

There was a really good spot involving a press slam from Claudio on Fenix followed by a Superkick from Penta that made Claudio drop Fenix on Yuta. Then Penta nailed Claudio with a destroyer. Fenix demolished Yuta with an inverted spike piledriver. The action is amazing in this match and the crowd is on fire for it. They are strongly behind the Lucha Brothers. Danielson talked about a lazy cover by Yuta really putting over how hard Blackpool works on the details. Claudio was struggling to get back in the ring while being held by a couple people under the ring. It’s the Young Bucks! They hold Claudio back allowing Lucha Brothers to hit their finisher on Wheeler for the win. The Bucks hit a few weaker looking Superkicks to Claudio on the outside then retreat into the crowd. It was a bit of a sloppy finish. Not a great way to end what was turning out to be an epic match. It was an effective way to continue the rivalry between the Elite and BCC in the final showdown before DON. I get why it was booked this way. Grade 3 ¾ *

Jon Moxley grabs a mic. He screams at the Bucks telling them to enjoy their final moments with their teeth and taking pictures with fans. Talk to their family before they end them at Anarchy in the Arena. That’s it. No wild brawl and no Kenny Omega or Don Callis on the show. This was a good ending to the show and certainly didn’t hurt the build to their match. I wouldn’t say it helped it either. It really didn’t need more buildup. I get that AEW didn’t want to give away too much. That said a wild brawl spilling into the crowd would have ended the show with the crowd roaring and leaving people thinking they have to order the PPV. Bringing out Don Callis and Kenny Omega to get some heat seems like a no brainer but didn’t happen. I do think AEW missed an opportunity to end the go home show on a really high note.

I mentioned in my opener that AEW doesn’t always have great go home shows. That happened again. This one wasn’t a stinker like the go home show for Full Gear back in November. I can’t say I’m that much more excited for Double or Nothing after this show. The excitement level for Cole and Jericho did increase. Same with the Tag Title match between FTR and Jarrett/Lethal. The action between the 4 Pillars and Elite/BCC was solid but not spectacular. I’m a lot more excited for Jade Cargill and Taya Valkyrie than most fans. The matches were good all night. The main event was great. It was a good show top to bottom just not a show that would get a casual fan to order a PPV. The crowd wasn’t very loud most of the show but there were moments where they got really into it.

AEW spent a lot of time trying to build the women’s division with the Homegrown/Outcasts rivalry. Britt Baker and Saraya were at the center of that and weren’t on the show. Hayter and Toni Storm weren’t on the show either. Shida wasn’t even mentioned. Perhaps there will be more buildup for the women on Rampage. House of Black looks to be without a match at DON. Acclaimed and Daddy Ass also weren’t mentioned on the show despite being #1 contenders for the trios titles. Jay White and Ricky Starks are in the battle royal. Not to mention Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland. It’s disappointing to see such talented performers without a good spot on one of the 2 or 3 biggest AEW shows of the year. I don’t look at it being as much of a negative as a lot of fans. It shows how loaded the AEW roster is because Double or Nothing truly is a stacked card that I am completely stoked for!

Overall Grade 7.4

2023 overall grade 7.73